Too laboured and cautious on the ball: where United went wrong tactically against Seville

Pogba struggled to have an impact after coming off the bench for United

With 18 minutes to go in Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Seville and the tie goalless, David De Gea rolled the ball to Nemanja Matic on the edge of the Manchester United penalty area. The Old Trafford crowd had been chanting for their team to “attack, attack, attack” but what they got after 72 minutes was the opposite. De Gea’s ball was the start of a 44-second period of possession that saw United players make a further 14 passes — all of which went sideways and not forward, as shown on the map below.

As José Mourinho’s side continued to move the ball from left to right across the defensive line, their fans began to express frustration at the laboured build-up on show. The move…